I had read about a 1 hour acclimitization for starfish... LFS recommended same.. so we bought a little Fromia sp. red starfish.

For 24 hours he's been crusing around, mostly at the top of the tank.

Now, after reading much much more about this sea star I am seeing a ton of recommendations to drip for 4 to 6 hours...

1 hour is far from 4 to 6...
there's no pinched area, nor problem... but I am more than a little worried...

Are there any early warning signs?

anything I can do to minimize the harm done?

This is a new setup with plenty of live rock that has been running with no fish or inverts for the cycle and to let the algae grow in prep for a detrivore crew of this starfish, snails and a few hermit crabs.

Tank has been getting New Life Spectrum and has a 96W 50/50 bulb over it. Salinity, pH, O2 all good... no idea what the LFS salinity is kept at... never knew it was important to match salinity this close Dumb me...

Thanks in advance..._________________"Just don't look in my fish room honey... it's just better for all of us. "

If you dripped him for an hour it helped a lot. So many people just dump livestock with LFS water right into their tank, a definate no no. Depending on the rate of drip everything should be fine. They are sensitive to mostly salinity and pH changes, the drip should have helped that a lot. One thing to try and do is when you get livestock, test the water they are in, it will help you decide how much to acclimate them._________________Out on the road today...I saw a DeadHead sticker on a Cadillac...
Jack
110 Gallon DSA Pentagon

I actually have one of these starfish... I've had mine for a few months & haven't had a problem (60g aquarium). Here is some information on them:

Quote:

It is found over sandy substrates, on rocks, and sometimes climbing among corals and other invertebrates. It is constantly foraging for micro-organisms and detritus to eat, so the aquarium should have ample amounts of live rock. It generally lives alone, but if the aquarium is large enough to support more than one, it will tolerate others of its own species.

It is recommended to supplement its diet with small pieces of shrimp, mussel, or flaked food.

(LiveAquaria)

These little guys are described by LiveAquaria as being 'moderate' in care level.

I don't think you've made a bad decision in buying him - as long as you have plenty of live rock for him to graze on.

I'm no expert though... but as far as I can tell - if they're given plenty of live rock & you supplement their diet maybe once a week - they seem to be fine.

That's the article I used to make my shopping list...
have you ever seen yours eat anything?

I have plenty of live rock in there and would happily set this guy up with a couple hundred pounds of it if that would keep him alive...

Problem is, I haven't really bumped into anyone who has figured out what they eat or had one for longer than one year... _________________"Just don't look in my fish room honey... it's just better for all of us. "

The cold hard truth? Sadly, most starfish starve to death in captive systems. This is true of MANY invertebrates, and I have tried many times in this forum to clarify that. The average marine aquarium is simply no substitute for the massive and constant supply of specialty foods they require to prosper. Even a few hundred pounds of live rock will be eventually grazed bare of its living food supplies. Wish I could give you better news, here's another opinion:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/ac/feature/index.php_________________Keepin' marines happy for 25 years

Wow... I actually hadn't realised that. I had no idea their feeding requirements were that involved. Would you suggest that it would be OK to keep this species providing they were fed daily? Or are their long-term survival chances still dismal?